This invention is directed to a game in which an object is propelled through a spirally winding pathway toward a target which is capable of capturing the object only if the object arrives at the target concurrently when the target is activated.
Many games are known or have been known. Certain of these games, because of their interest level, tend to have a longer life time than others. Some of the life time of a game can be attributed to the fact that the game seems to incorporate ideas and/or functions which transcend fads. Other games simply have as their greatest appeal the incorporation of characters or objects currently in vogue, that is, their appeal is based strictly on a fad and interest in the game is gone as soon as the fad fades.
Children's games should do more than simply provide a vehicle for occupying their time. It is possible to incorporate ideas into a game which helps a child more effectively deal with his environment. One such thing which can be incorporated into a game is a teaching or practicing of effective eye-hand coordination skills which help a child in manipulating objects of his environment.
Certain target and pinball-type games do help develop eye-hand coordination. The typical pinball-type game utilizes a sphere on a playing surface which is manipulated between a plurality of targets by the use of flippers incorporated in the pinball game. Other games, such as the game described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,163 utilize targets which are only exposed for a limited period of time and thus require the user of the game described in this patent to quickly ascertain whether or not a target is exposed and then to attempt to fire an object at that target. In another game described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,019 a player must effectively make a decision in a very short period of time whether or not an object belongs to a color group which he must capture or whether that object is outside of that color group and in another color group which he must not attempt to capture. These games help the user to develop skills in mentally recognizing something and then attempting to effectively perform a physical act in association with the mental recognition.
Certain games have been developed which utilize curved surfaces. Thus, in the game described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,302 a player must roll an object across a curved surface. For proper capture of the object the object must traverse the curved surface along the curved pathway. Further, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,990 it is proposed to use a circular parabolic shaped surface in a bowling-type game. Both of these games require mastery of the knowledge of how an object behaves on a curved surface, a concept which seemingly is more difficult to grasp than how an object behaves on a plane surface.
Just about all pinball-type games incorporate the use of an arculate surface to initially change the direction of the spherical object used in the pinball game from a direction away from the player when the object is launched, to a direction toward the player across the playing surface. The use of this curved surface is essentially only for changing the direction of the spherical object.
It is considered that it would be advantageous to have available a pinball-type game which incorporated a curved track which thus could effectively increase the length of the track within the confines of the housing of the pinball game. It is further considered advantageous to incorporate a variable target member in a game having a curved track in order to develop eye-hand coordination which is based upon curved movement as opposed to straight movement.